One Accidental Step Further
by butterfly.cell
Summary: When they decided their relationship was going to be serious, did either of them count on this? M is cautionary at best for language and theme. Jack/Ianto MPreg warning
1. Chapter 1

Ha, this whole story is dedicated to my friend Becca, who I was talking to when I decided 'Screw it, I'm going to write one the way I think it'd be done!'. I've seen alot of different ways of this being gotten around, some better than others, some just downright bizarre (I mean, actually giving birth? Where the hell would it come out of?!), and here's my attempt to make sense of somethign I think would actually be pretty adorable. Granted, it do still find the image of one of them with a bump weird... I may skip over most of the actual pregnancy because of it...

I apologise if the title changes, but I can't settle on one, and I need Becca's advice before I think of a final one... but she's deserted me for the day, so yeah. Mine may have to stick!

This isn't going to be a huge long fic, perhaps 3 or 4 chapters... Probably 3. I hope you find it a suitable solution for the whole situation and that you like it =

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters (or food items) below, they belong to Russel T. Davies (and Ben and Jerry) and I shall return them, hopefully, in the correct condition.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Coming Clean  
**

Tosh was sitting comfortably at her desk, clutching a hot mug of fresh coffee and taking a sip every so often. She smiled to herself and leaned back in her chair. She'd been working hard all day to finish her list of U.N.I.T. slip ups for the past 5 years, and there had been a lot of them. Jack had grinned at her when she'd realised just how many events she'd have to catalogue and file for the list.

Shaking her head, she looked around, searching for Jack so that she could show him the list. He was walking down from his office, strolling through the hub with his hands in his pockets. He looked at Tosh and she beckoned him over. Altering his course a little, he wound up behind her desk, looking at the automatically scrolling screen.

He let out a low whistle and nodded.

"I'm impressed, Toshiko Sato. That's a hefty little list you've made yourself." He patted her shoulder and grinned as she looked up. "Good work!"

Laughing a little, he walked away and returned to his original course. Keeping a steady pace, he suppressed the nausea and groaned inwardly. Adjusting his pace slightly, he sped up, and by the time he'd entered the bathroom and locked the door, he was running. He skidded to the other side of the room and dropped to his knees in front of the toilet, leaning over and throwing up.

He sat back against the wall and groaned, rubbing his eyes. This was the most unpleasant part. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet and staggered over to the sink, turning the cold tap on and cupping his hands under the stream. He splashed the collected water onto his face before ducking his mouth under the tap and taking a gulp, swilling it round his mouth before spitting straight back out.

Another wave broke over him and he rolled his eyes, ducking for the toilet bowl again. He groaned loudly as the dry heaving ended. He'd already purged himself of his breakfast and morning doughnut, so there was really nothing left in his stomach to be forced out. He knew this was only the beginning.

He looked sharply at the door when he heard a sharp knocking.

"Jack? Jack, are you okay in there?" It was Ianto. God damnit, it was Ianto.

"Yeah, Yan… Yeah, I'm fine." He got up, flushed the toilet and washed his mouth out again, before smoothing down his shirt and unlocking the door to find the young Welshman looking at him with deep concern.

"You've been throwing up all morning, that's not fine." He reached a hand forwards and stroked Jack's cheek before smiling briefly and dropping his hand to take hold of Jack's and pull him back into the hub. "Can I get you anything?"

Jack thought through the list of food he'd compiled under the heading 'Sick as a Dog' and smiled when he remembered that not only did coffee not come under it, it was one of the things that made it better. He looked sideways at Ianto before grinning and replying.

"I'll have a coffee please… My usual." He winked at Ianto and laughed as the young man blushed and hurried off to the kitchen. He wandered back up to his office and sat down behind his desk. It was one of those days where he just wanted to go back to Ianto's house and curl up on the sofa with him, with a DVD on the TV. He growled in rebellion and hit his fist lightly on the desk before pulling a file towards him and getting to work.

By lunchtime, he'd 'thrown up' three more times after attempting to eat an apple, a slice of ham and a bag of croutons. The last ones had been strongly flavoured, so Jack suspected that it was his body naturally rejecting the strange food, and had nothing to do with the thing plaguing his stomach. Ianto had made him a coffee each time, helping to soothe the ripples of nausea that survived. Hopefully Ianto would stick around.

The team had ordered in pizza, and gathered that it was late enough in the day for him to attempt to eat again. When Ianto called him down from his office, he ran full pelt to the table, grabbed the box Ianto was holding out for him and opened it. He hadn't smelt anything as good fro a long time. He pulled a slice free and rolled it up, biting it in half and sinking onto the sofa happily. Gwen raised an eyebrow and pulled her desk chair over to sit on the other side of the desk. Owen followed behind her, and Tosh swivelled in her chair to face them. Ianto planted himself next to Jack and watched, half disgusted, half amused, as Jack stuffed the rest of the slice of pizza into his mouth, before he'd even finished the first half.

"Jack, here on earth, we have these things called manners?" Owen looked at him sceptically and took a bite out of his own pizza. Jack just grinned.

"When there's only a few things you really like to eat that you can actually stomach, who cares how you eat them?" He repeated the process with the next slice of pizza and started humming to himself.

Owen looked incredulously at Ianto, who raised his hands to say: "Don't look at me, I'm just the boyfriend." It was common knowledge in the hub that Jack and Ianto had been seeing each other for a while. Most guessed that it was since Jack had returned from his little trip, with his psychotic ex-lover in tow. It had been hot gossip between Owen, Gwen and Tosh, but none of them had got the courage up to ask either of the two men about details.

The team finished up their lunch with the usual conversation about what they'd done that morning, the occasional question about a member's private life being asked and answered. When they were finished, Jack dropped his empty pizza box on the table and headed back up to his office happily. Ianto watched him go, feeling a little bemused at his behaviour.

* * *

Ianto's understanding of the situation hadn't cleared up by the time Jack came up to his office, picked up his coat and pulled him from behind his desk. Jack yawned loudly and hooked an arm around Ianto's waist, pulling him out into the cool night air and locking the door behind him.

Ianto chuckled a little as he pulled on his coat and the walked along the boardwalk to the where his car was parked. He was extremely surprised when Jack voluntarily climbed into the passenger seat and he was allowed behind the wheel. It made for a fairly relaxing drive home and a much more relaxed Ianto when they arrived there.

The next surprise was having to wake Jack up when he pulled up into the driveway of the small semi detached house in the suburbs of Cardiff. He shook Jack's shoulders gently until he blinked his eyes and yawned loudly again, getting out of the car without assistance and pulling his keys from his pocket when he reached the door.

They'd decided a week or so after Jacks return that they weren't going to mess around this time. They'd agreed very quickly that Jack should move in with Ianto, and over the few months that had followed the decision, traces of Jack could be found throughout the house. Ianto was glad he'd decided to stay, as he'd always found the house a little lonely on his own. He smiled when Jack took his hand and pulled him in through the door, closing it behind him and kicking his boots off next to the mat.

Ianto watched him shrug his great coat off and sling it over the banister before shuffling into the sitting room and dropping onto the sofa, lying sprawled across the dark brown suede. Jack had always loved the sofas, as they had hard, thick arms which were perfect for putting a plate of dinner or a cup of coffee down on. They were also quite deep and perfect for curling up on together, as there was no risk of falling off. Jack could be romantic and practical when he wanted to be. Right now, he was tired. Ianto heard a gentle snore drift up to him and rolled his eyes. Jack had been snoring a month or so, and Ianto no idea what had brought it on.

Sighing, he sat down on the bottom step of the stairs and started to unlace his shoes, setting them next to Jack's haphazardly placed boots and hanging both his coat and Jack's abandoned one on the pegs next to the door. He went through to the kitchen and flicked the kettle on making them both a cup of coffee before moving back through to the sitting room and shaking Jack awake again. He blinked at Ianto again and pushed himself up into a sitting position, taking his coffee as Ianto sat down next to him. He put the mug on the arm and lay back down, resting his head on Ianto's legs and groaning softly. Ianto rubbed his arm sympathetically and took a mouthful of his coffee before putting it down on his arm of the sofa.

"You okay down there, Jack?" He heard him mumbled something about feeling a little sick again and gently moved his hand from Jack's arm to his stomach, rubbing it gently. That caused the older man to close his eyes and sigh gently, which made Ianto, in turn, chuckle. "Shall I order more pizza? You seemed to be able to keep that down earlier."

Jack wriggled onto his back and looked up at Ianto, smiling. "What I really want, is ice cream." Ianto nodded and pushed himself up, making Jack sit up too, and reach for his coffee. Ianto left to room to sighs of appreciation from the man.

He delved through the freezer and pulled out a large, half eaten tub of Ben and Jerry's Phish Phood. Grabbing two spoons from the drawer, he made his way back into the sitting room and found Jack sitting cross legged and holding his stomach.

"Jack?!" Ianto's voice was full of alarm and Jack looked up sheepishly.

"I'm fine, I told you, it's nothing." He patted the sofa next to him and Ianto came over and took his place again, propping his feet up on the coffee table and slumping down in his seat. He flicked the lid off the ice cream and held it tightly to his chest to warm it up a bit. Jack quickly grabbed it from him and retrieved a spoon, digging it straight in.

"Come on, you have to let it melt a bit!" They'd always disagreed on the best way to eat ice cream. Ianto liked it when it got all gooey around the edges, but Jack liked it when it was still completely frozen.

"I'm letting it melt! I'm just eating the middle while it does." He flashed Ianto a grin and the young man had to acknowledge that it made sense. He pushed himself up and drew the curtains of the large bay window and returned to his previous position.

"Do you know that you've started snoring, Jack?" Ianto was staring at the ceiling. Jack looked up in alarm.

"Shit, really?" Ianto looked at him and saw annoyance in his face. He watched him put the ice cream on the coffee table and rub his eyes. He growled a little and swung his legs down so his feet were on the floor, his elbows resting on his knees and his torso leaning forwards. "Not good…"

"Jack? What's wrong? You're starting to creep me out a little here." Ianto put a hand on his back and leaned forwards so he could see Jack's face.

"Shit.. I was really hoping I'd got it wrong." He wrung his hands for a while before sighing and looking up at Ianto. "You know how I said I wasn't going to get pregnant again?"

Ianto just stared at him. "You have _got_ to be kidding me…"


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so I couldn't help myself... I dunno if people even like it that much y'know.. Please, if you read it and like it, review?

I hope this comes out right, I mean, I want Jack not to be all wossy and soppy pregnant, like, I don't want his character to change too much cos I think that's really stupid when it does. Hopefully, it's still Jack, just a little moodier and more tired.

Chapter 3 will come soon cos I'm liking writing this too much! It's really just a stab in the dark that I'm enjoying writing, and anyone who likes it as well is just a bonus!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters below, they belong to Russel T. Davies

* * *

**Chapter 2: Adjusting**

Jack just shook his head and winced as Ianto stood up and paced the room a few times, settling over by the curtains and turning on his heel to look at Jack. He had one hand on his hip and the other on his head, the shocked expression on his face making Jack want to squirm.

"Are you sure?" Ianto's voice was calm, betraying none of the anxiety he was feeling. Jack just nodded.

"Last time it was the same… Snoring, throwing up everything but apple pie, ice cream and pizza for the first trimester…" He rubbed the back of his head and looked away. He couldn't read the expression on Ianto's face.

"How long?" Jack silently calculated it in his head. The morning sickness had started around week three, give or take a few days. He'd been throwing up regularly each morning for the past week, making it around about a month in.

"A month, maybe a bit more?" He shrugged, not really being able to guess. "The snoring would be the key point here. Whenever that started, it began a day or two before."

A sudden look of realisation lit up Ianto's eyes and he managed a smile. Jack remembered the night a little over a month ago too and they shared a quick look before Ianto looked away, dropping his eyes to the floor. This wasn't something he'd planned on worrying about in that particular relationship. Sighing heavily, he walked back over to the sofa and dropped down, taking a hold of one of Jack's hands.

"My mam'll be happy… She'd given up all thought of a grandkid off of me." Jack looked up and saw an affectionate smile on the young man's face. His heart soared when Ianto leaned down and kiss him gently, inspiring a huge amount of trust and encouragement.

"But what do _you_ think, Ianto?" He pulled away and looked seriously at the young man. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to, we really don't."

Ianto punched him hard on the arm for that.

"It's not that I'm not happy, trust me, I am…" He rubbed his face, still trying to come to terms with the fact. "… I'm just having problems working out how. It doesn't help either that the moment I got into bed with you, I gave up all hope of having kids."

Jack sighed, picked up the now semi melted ice cream and handed it to Ianto, gesturing to him to make himself comfortable. Jack himself sat back, fingers interlinked and hands lying on his still flat stomach. He was suddenly glad that he healed in no time, shuddering at the thought of having stretch marks.

"Right. Simple answer here, or as simple as I can make it." Ianto had sunk down into the sofa, feet on the coffee table and spoon in his mouth, looking up at the ceiling to listen. "In the 51st century, due to an illness contracted from an alien species, the female population suffered dramatically. Over half of them died, and no men were affected. Me, being the dashing and valiant hero that I am, applied for a medical trial in which they put me through a series of procedures to test a new theory. Basically, they needed to find a way to bring the human population back up to a healthy level."

He looked back over at Ianto, who was sucking thoughtfully on the spoon. He turned his head and smiled.

"Go on." He pointed the spoon at him before digging out another pile of the ice cream and putting it in his mouth.

"I was the first successful test case, and it resulted in me getting pregnant the next time I had a night in with my boyfriend. Of course, as the treatment wasn't official yet, they terminated it at my next check up, a few months later, and a week after that, I got trapped in a different time." He sighed and thought about the experience. It hadn't been pleasant.

He'd never told the boyfriend, but he'd gone through the first few months of snoring and stomach volatility. The Jack he'd been back then hadn't been one to settle down, and he'd split from the guy a few weeks after the incident. He'd found the fact that he was pregnant a little annoying as it would mean a responsibility he didn't want, so he was fine about the termination. He'd been paid pretty well for it too, so that was even better.

He felt Ianto shift beside him and he was surprised to feel his hands squirming under his own, pushing his shirt up and placing his palms on his skin. It made him shiver a little, but he smiled affectionately at the young man, pleased at how well he'd taken the news. He didn't want to pressure Ianto, but over the last few minutes since realisation, he'd become quite attached to the idea of being a parent.

"Of all the strange and bizarre things about you, Jack Harkness, this is the weirdest of them all." He followed Ianto's eyes down to his stomach and watched him stroke it gently. It was still a little weird to think there was something growing inside him, let alone something that was part him, part his lover.

Ianto shifted himself again and swung a leg over Jack so he was sitting in his lap. Jack just grinned and leaned forwards, kissing the young man hard on the lips. Ianto moved his hands to either side of Jack's face and leaned right into the kiss as Jack's arms came around his waist. After a few moments, he suddenly jerked back and Jack looked at him confused.

"How's it born?" He looked dubiously down at Jack's crotch which made Jack's face split in two with a huge grin, accompanied by a low chuckle.

"C-section. Set a date, and Owen cuts 'it' out." Ianto's face visibly relaxed and he smiled, climbing off Jack and standing up and holding his hand out. Jack groaned in protest. "Can't I just sleep on the sofa? I can't be bothered to move."

Ianto rolled his eyes and grabbed Jack's arm, hauling him off the sofa and pushing him out of the room and up the stairs. Jack reluctantly took control and went into the bedroom, stripping down to his boxers and pulling on the t-shirt he slept in, in his usual messy fashion. Ianto quickly remembered the half drunk cups of coffee and the ice-cream and vanished downstairs to sort them out before they got nasty.

When he returned to the bedroom, he found Jack lying on his side, in bed, the covers pulled up to his chest. He was already asleep. Ianto smiled and set about picking up Jack's clothes and dumping them in the laundry basket in the bathroom. He stripped off as well and pulled his pyjama trousers on before shoving his own clothes in the basket and flicking the light off. Making his way back across the dark landing and into the dimly lit bedroom, he slipped under the covers behind Jack, turned the bedside lamp off and slipped his arms around Jack's waist.

He was a little surprised at the swell of happiness he felt in his chest, and the lack of regret and nervousness he felt about the whole situation. He couldn't imagine himself being a parent though, the thought was still a little too bizarre.

* * *

Two months later was a different story completely. He had no idea just how hard it was going to be to make Jack realise that he couldn't go running around and getting himself killed all the time. He soon made Jack realise that if he got shot and died, the baby would be deprived of oxygen for too long and would die… and the baby wasn't going to be immortal. Jack had promised a hysterical Ianto that he would take better care of himself over the coming months.

The time since then had been riddled with arguments, bitching, bullying and yelling. Ianto had lost count of the amount of nights he'd spent on the sofa because of fights that had gotten too bad. Of course, the morning after, Jack always apologised, even when it wasn't his fault. At around the five month mark, the team had made Jack acknowledge that he couldn't go running around after weevils and aliens. The event had been quite unpleasant.

Jack had fallen asleep on his sofa, as was usual for that time in the afternoon, and Ianto and the others had orchestrated a kidnapping of sorts. They'd locked the door to his office and stood outside waiting for him to wake up. Eventually, they'd heard shuffling and then the door handle twisted uselessly. Jack groaned, having realised what was about to happen. They'd already tried to get him to stay still last time a call came through.

"Jack, you're not going on any more hunts." Ianto's voice was firm and commanding, but Jack just hit against it.

"Like hell I'm not." The following argument had brought growled death threats on both Ianto and the baby, but all involved knew they were completely empty. The argument had raged for half an hour before Jack finally accepted the fact that the team weren't going to let him leave the hub.

At that point, Jack had just looked like he'd put on a few pounds from all the pizza and ice cream he'd been eating, but soon after, when he really started to show, the team decided they'd have to intervene with that as well.

He'd been sitting in his office, going through some filing when Tosh came up to the door, holding something out. He recognised the thing in her hand and suddenly looked down at his left wrist. How had she gotten his wrist strap? He'd beckoned her in and she came and sat down opposite him, handing him the leather accessory as she did so.

"I've built in a perception filter, using the tech from the lift." She smiled at him and he looked down at his wrist as he put the strap back on. "You press these buttons-" She leaned forwards and pointed "-and you'll fade into the background."

She beamed at him and he nodded his head, impressed. "You never cease to amaze me Tosh, thanks." He gave a genuinely warm smile which she returned as she stood up and left the office.

Ianto had earned himself an affectionate kiss and a heartfelt apology for Jack's recent behaviour that evening as they curled up on the sofa watching a Lord of the Rings film.

About a month or so after that, when Jack was at about seven and a half months, Owen had ordered him to stop coming in for work. There'd been a brief argument at the house about Jack wanting to go in and ignore Owen, but Ianto managed to convince him to stay. He'd returned home from work that night to see Jack lying curled up asleep on the sofa, the ending credits of some film scrolling along the TV set. Jack had stirred and looked up to see Ianto staring at the open magazines on the coffee table. He'd made the mistake of leaving Jack with the credit card, a phone and the home order form for Mothercare.

Ianto took the next day off and had to help the delivery men carry the flat packed crib and baby furniture up to the spare room. He spent the day sitting amongst the fold out instructions with his toolbox open by the door, throwing a screwed up piece of cardboard at Jack every time he ventured to stick his head round the door.

By the time he was finished, he couldn't wait for the day they'd set out with Owen to come around. Only five more weeks to go.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm sad, I know, I have no life. I just simply couldn't leave it alone and decided to finish it off. I hope you feel this works well, and that it's not too bizarre. I'm a little worried about Jack's characterisation at times, but i think I pulled it off.

Reviews are much appreciated and they keep my muses alive!

I may just have to write a follow up to this in a separate story, or perhaps as an extra chapter, so watch out for it!

**Disclaimer**: I only own one character below (the baby, duh) and the rest belong to Russel T. Davies because he's a genius and created my favourite two ficitonal characters of all time!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Arrival**

The day before the date the three of them had settled on, Owen had ordered Jack into the hub. He needed to observe him for a while before performing the C-section. He'd had to read up on them, as he'd only performed two himself, and never had he done one of a man. He had no idea where the baby would be growing, so it was going to be blind luck.

Ianto had spent the day sitting in the autopsy bay, doing paperwork on the metal table in the middle, where Owen usually worked.

"Is there any reason for you to be working in here?" Owen stood and looked over the railing at the top of the stairs. Ianto just looked up with a slight pleading in his eyes.

"Owen, I'm freaking out down here!" Ianto's voice was down to a desperate whisper. Owen looked sympathetically at him and walked down the stairs to pull up a stool to the other side of the table. "I'm twenty-six, Owen, twenty-six! When I got into a relationship with Jack, I never figured I'd have to worry about this!"

The young man looked to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown. "Ianto, when was the last time you slept?" He just looked at him awkwardly.

"A couple of nights ago… Jack hasn't been sleeping well and I've been keeping him company." He yawned by accident, but it emphasised the point and he rubbed his eyes.

"Ianto, as your doctor, I'm ordering you to take half a sleeping pill and to go curl up on the sofa by Tosh." He rolled over to a stand and opened a tray, pulling out a bottle and shaking a small white pill out before snapping it in half and giving it to the young man. "I will wake you up as soon I'm about to start the operation."

Ianto looked at him thankfully and got up, grabbing his jacket from the banister and walking up to the main section of the hub. He slid onto the sofa and lay down, swallowing the half pill with a mouthful of orange juice he'd left on the table. Tosh smiled at him sympathetically, and he felt Gwen smooth his dishevelled hair down as sleep that had been nagging at him for the past few days took a hold and he drifted off.

What felt like a split second later, Gwen was shaking him roughly by the shoulder and she grinned at him when he managed to open his eyes. It took a second for him to realise what was going on, but when he did, he jumped up and ran down to the bottom of the autopsy bay. Jack was sitting on the metal table, dressed in what seemed to be a hospital gown with drapes over his legs. He was conversing seriously with Owen as the doctor put a drip into the back of his hand, but looked up and smiled seeing Ianto standing there, a little out of breath.

Owen pushed him back onto the table and looked over at Ianto. "You ready?"

"Not exactly…" He sighed heavily and went over to Jack, taking hold of his hand and squeezing it reassuringly. He suddenly felt like he'd abandoned Jack that day and leaned down to kiss him gently on the forehead.

"Legs numb yet, Jack?" Owen was gowning up on the other side of the room, sterilising himself as he went. Ianto wouldn't need to bother, as Jack was immortal and wouldn't be harmed by an infection. His cleanliness was just in case the baby was susceptible to something at first.

The two women came down into the hub, grinning like loons and Ianto looked exasperatedly at them. Jack saw the look on his face and chuckled. "We're going to put on one hell of a show, Ianto Jones."

Ianto looked from Jack to Owen and then noticed the wheelable Perspex cradle at the edge of the room where Gwen and Tosh were standing.

"Ianto, I put that bag of baby stuff my sister gave me up by my workstation, you guys can go through it later and take whatever you want! I doubt me and Rhys'll be popping one out any time soon." Gwen smiled encouragingly and Ianto nodded his thanks.

"It's so cool that we get to be midwives!" Tosh was clasping her hands in front of her and grinning at Ianto again. He was really failing to see the amusing side of the situation as anxiety and last minute panic gripped him. It must've shown because Jack gripped his hand.

"Hey… It's all going to be fine, okay?" Ianto managed a smile and ran his fingers through Jack's hair.

"It should be the other way round, shouldn't it? I should be the one calming you down… Sorry, Jack." Jack leaned forwards and kissed him again before setting his face and turning to Owen.

"I seriously cannot feel anything below my chest now, so can we get this over with? I want to run around and be immortal again." Owen rolled his eyes and moved over to the table, pulling his tray of utensils over with him and selecting a scalpel.

"Do I need to cover anything up?" Owen looked from the ashen faced Welshman to the grinning American and wondered how the hell they'd ended up in this situation, not for the first time. They'd never explained to the team how the pregnancy had occurred. He watched Ianto shake his head and look up, his face fixed in determination. Jack was a lot more enthusiastic.

"Are you serious? I want to see what they did to me!" Jack was smiling at Owen who looked a little disturbed, but pulled up the gown nonetheless, pulling out a marker and drawing the line he was going to cut on Jack's stomach. He didn't need to worry about hiding a scar, so he drew it just off centre, to avoid his belly button but make it easier to access.

"Only you would want to see your bloody entrails." Owen muttered to himself as he began the procedure.

It took him a few tries to get through the correct layers of skin and find his way to where the uterus of a woman would be, but it was made easier by the fact that whatever had made Jack able to get pregnant was extremely similar to the inner workings of a female.

Soon, he had the uterus exposed and was using a sensor to check the babies vital signs. He looked up to see Jack staring at his exposed inside with fascination and Ianto looking resolutely at the floor behind the table, obviously working hard to stop himself throwing up. Whether out of disgust or panic, Owen didn't know.

"He's doing fine here guys, and he's more than ready to come out." Owen looked at Jack, who just grinned, acting as if this whole thing was just another big adventure.

"Did you say 'he'?" Ianto looked up at Owen, his eyes shining a little. The doctor just nodded and Ianto's face split into a grin.

"Just do it Owen, please? I feel a little exposed here, no matter how cool it looks." Jack raised his eyebrows pointedly and Owen nodded, calling the women over with the cradle and the blankets. He looked down at the pinkish membrane and the shape beneath, suddenly extremely conscious of how sharp the scalpel in his hand was.

"Okay, this is going to be a bit of a mess guys, I hope you're not wearing your favourite shoes…" He didn't give any of them a chance to the move and punctured the membrane carefully, cutting it right across and pulling it open, letting the fluid inside gush onto the floor. He carefully eased the tiny baby out of the folds of Jack's insides and held it out for Gwen to wrap up as it started to cry. Loudly.

"That is so your son, Jack." He couldn't help but smile at the look of pure happiness on Ianto's face as he laughed through the tears streaming across his cheeks.

Owen clamped off the umbilical cord and handed the scissors to Ianto, smiling again as the young man's shaking hands cut it and Gwen wrapped the blanket around the small bundle, easing it into Ianto's arms. The baby had stopped crying and was staring up at Ianto with the a look of awe on it's face, mirroring Ianto's own expression, making it startlingly obvious that he was the newborn's father. Jack was looking at them both with an emotion in his face that contrasted all the blasé and hyped up talk he'd preceded to that moment with. It was something so tender and affectionate that Owen felt like he was invading by seeing it.

Quickly, he turned his attention to the mess that was Jack's abdomen. He carefully lifted the placenta out and dropped it into a kidney dish on the stand next to him, cleaning out the small amounts of blood and remaining membrane. Now came the laborious process of stitching up the various layers of skin and tissue. He started with what he could only describe as the uterus, carefully stitching it up, taking care as he knew that one day, the two men might want to expand their family more, and it needed to be in good shape.

Once that was done, the task was a lot simpler and he managed to finish it both quickly and to a high standard and soon, he was pulling the drip from Jack's arm and turning his attention to his surroundings. He looked around and pulled one of the stools over to Ianto, who was still standing next to Jack, holding his son and crying silently, looking at Jack occasionally who had one of the tiny hands wrapped around his finger.

Gwen and Tosh were standing dutifully back and trying not to get all maternal and hormonal over the tiny new body in the room. He rolled his eyes and put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, gesturing him to sit down. He handed the small baby over to Jack and sat down, rubbing his eyes now that he'd been snapped out of his trance.

"Thanks… Thanks, Owen." He looked up and smiled at the doctor.

"Don't mention it… No, really. Don't mention it." He smiled back and patted Ianto's shoulder briefly before turning to Jack.

"He's going to need a name." Owen folded his arms and looked at Jack, who looked from the baby to Ianto, to the women in the corner, to Owen and then back to the baby. A smile crept over his face and he looked at Ianto, who nodded.

"Griffin." The baby's hand was curled around one of his fingers again and he smiled, looking back down at their son. "Griffin Harkness-Jones."

Owen nodded and turned to his computer, filling in the medical file for both Jack and the newborn.

* * *

About four hours later, after Jack had regained the use of his legs and the flabby skin around his stomach had almost shrunk back into place, he found himself sitting on the sofa behind Tosh's desk, an arm round Ianto's waist. They'd surrendered their son to Tosh and Gwen who'd promptly scooped him up and taken him off to Gwen's work station where there was a changing mat, nappies and newborn baby clothes, courtesy of Gwen's sister. They selected a small body grow, the type with no arms or legs, which had small cartoon dinosaurs printed all over it, and a white baby grow with a blue lion embroidered on the back. They finished it off with a large white woollen blanket that had green and blue stars dotted around in the corners.

They were completely and utterly the doting aunties, and that made Jack laugh, despite how tired he was. He looked over at Ianto who had bags under his eyes and was looking decidedly untidy. His hair was all ruffled, his shirt sleeves were rolled up, his waist coat unbuttoned and his tie loosened, the top shirt button undone to give him more room to breathe. He looked up at Jack and smiled, a little surprised when Jack moved closer and captured his lips in a deep kiss.

"Well done, Mr. Jones." He pulled back and looked at the man, smiling as Ianto playfully prodded his now normal stomach. He couldn't help thinking that everything that had happened, that him coming back from the dead and surviving the year that never was, was all worth it, for this moment right here.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Gwen came over to him holding the bundle of blankets and dark brown hair. She smiled at him and handed Griffin over, supporting his head carefully as she lowered him into Jack's arms before turning back to her desk.

He smiled down at his son who was, despite all odds, awake and alert, his blue eyes glittering in interest as he surveyed the scene. The little face suddenly scrunched up and yawned and Ianto chuckled before succumbing to a yawn himself. Gwen had returned with a brand new baby seat in her hands and Jack looked up at her.

"I heard Ianto talking about it, worrying that you hadn't got one yet, so this is from me and Rhys." She smiled and set the seat down on the coffee table. Jack felt tears prickling the back of his eyes, gratitude amplified by lack of sleep and his still slightly unusual hormone levels. He just nodded and she smiled back, understanding what he'd been trying to say.

He glanced at Ianto, who had his head propped back against the wall and had his eyes closed before carefully placing the baby into the seat and strapping him in. He made a few noises of objection, which were soothed by Jack hastily starting to rock the seat, then blinked a few times and promptly dropped off to sleep. Jack started to laugh as he looked from Ianto to Griffin and back again. They really did look like each other, no matter how cliché it was.

He gently shook Ianto awake and quickly put a finger to his lips and pointed to the baby before Ianto could speak. He nodded at him and pushed himself up, leaving Jack with Griffin and going off to find Gwen about the baby things.

"Gwen?" Ianto tapped her on the shoulder and she spun round in her chair to look up at him.

"Congratulations again, Ianto, he really is adorable." She beamed at him and he rubbed the back of his head briefly before nodding in agreement.

"About this stuff, can we take the clothes and some of the toys back with us and leave the bouncer and mat here? I have absolutely no doubt that he'll be spending a lot of time here over the next few months, so it would be helpful to have things that can stay here so we don't have to truck it back and forth everyday…" Gwen nodded fervently and patted his arm.

"Of course you can, don't worry about it! I tell you what, I'll move it all up to Jack's office for you, so you can all take off. No doubt you just want to get him home." Ianto nodded and smiled, thankful, for once, that Gwen was such a people person. She was reading him like a book. "Go on, take him home."

She turned him round and gave him a little shove and Ianto made his way back over to Jack, who was gazing down at the sleeping baby. He gently picked up the baby seat by the handle with his free hand and gave Jack the bag of baby clothes he was holding in his other. Jack stood up and took the bag before leaning into Ianto and kissing his cheek gently.

"Lets go home, Jack." The older man smiled and nodded, taking Ianto's free hand with his and leading him out of the hub, through the huge cog door.


	4. Epilogue

Okay, so i got bored and decided to do a follow up, showing a little insight into life at home for the new family... Really, it's because I wanted to write, but I didn't feel like doing a 3000 word installment of the main fic. I decided this would be a happy alternative as I've gotten several requests for more of Griffin's escapades!

I hope this fulfills people's wants from the story, I found it cute to write! Reviews please? But mostly, just enjoy it!

**Disclaimer**: I only own Griffin, not his oh-so sexy parents... They're property of Russel T. Davies, John Barrowman and Gareth David-Lloyd.

* * *

**Epilogue: The Weeks That Followed**

When they'd gotten home on that first evening, Ianto had still been in a slight state of shock at the fact that his son, after all those months of waiting, had been born. Jack was just relieved to be able to control his bladder and bend over properly. He'd gotten extremely annoyed towards the end, cursing his stomach at regular intervals. He'd been unconsciously poking and prodding his now flat abdomen on the drive home, much to Ianto's amusement.

They'd slowly eased everything out of the car, baby seat in Jack's hand as Ianto unlocked the front door and let them inside. The young man dropped the back of clothes and toys at the foot of the stairs with a yawn and leaned against the banister, closing his eyes. Jack kissed the side of his head gently and linked his fingers with Ianto's and smiled at him.

He held Ianto's hand and guided the young man up the stairs and into the bedroom where they debated how best to sleep that night. They finally gave up and decided to move the cot into the room the next day, both being far too sleepy to manage the task now. Instead, Jack carefully unclipped the boy from the seat and held him gently in his arms as Ianto pulled the duvet on the bed into a rough nest shape. He knelt down next to it and gently laid the newborn in the middle of the dip and flopped down beside him, sighing happily.

Both man and baby had dropped straight off to sleep, Jack being particularly exhausted, but Ianto had laid awake for a while longer, watching his son and his lover as they slept.

To Ianto, Griffin looked like Jack in a multitude of ways. The most recognisable aspect at that point was the shape his mouth fell into as he slept. Ianto couldn't help but smile as he looked from Griffin's face to Jack's, only the ages differing in their faces.

He'd drifted off soon after that, a hand on Griffin's stomach, a tight little grip wrapped around his index finger.

* * *

A week later, Jack had come into his element completely, settling naturally into his role as Griffin's father. Ianto, to Jack's amusement, was leaning towards the feminine side of the relationship again. When Griffin woke in the night, it was Ianto who woke first, picking the crying baby up and rocking him gently back to sleep, feeding him when needs be. Jack slept through these disturbances at first, but he soon trained himself to be awake with Ianto, to share the duties of soothing the baby back to sleep.

They started to take it in turns to feed him and shared all the responsibilities throughout the house more evenly. They'd swap round on who changed him and who held him after dinner, they took turns in rocking him to sleep and playing with him. By the time Griffin was two weeks old, they felt like naturals. They'd already adjusted to the night's of limited sleep and the sound of a screaming infant waking them at bizarre hours.

They'd found out that while he had Jack's sense of humour, his eyes were already betraying the soft intelligence that Jack loved so much about Ianto. Each man found a whole list of things about their son that they saw in the other, extending from the way he smiled, to the way he blinked in confusion at a remark or action from one of them. They were surprised with how quickly he was becoming responsive to them, and the level of recognition in his face when they picked him up or walked into a room.

The two had spent almost all of their time at home, mainly because they didn't want to subject Griffin to the bustling life of the hub quite yet, but partly because neither of them had the heart to be away from him for too long. One of the days, Ianto had needed to run to the hub and check on files that needed archiving, at Owen's request, and he'd been there for longer than expected.

He came home about three hours later to find the house quiet. By now, he'd usually be putting Griffin down whilst Jack got ready for bed, but obviously, Jack had already gotten there. He silently slipped his shoes and coat off and poked his head round the living room door, checking that it was tidy.

He was surprised and amused to see Jack lying on the sofa, facing the ceiling with his knees bent and feet proper against the opposite end to his head. Lying down the middle of his legs, sitting quite comfortably, was Griffin. Over the last couple weeks, his dark brown hair had started to grow properly, sticking out at odd angles that reminded Ianto suspiciously of Jack first thing in the morning. They were both fast asleep, and Ianto couldn't help but notice the striking resemblance between them.

He didn't have the heart to wake them up, so he sat on the opposite sofa and watched them for a while longer. Griffin's tiny hands were curled round each of Jack's index fingers, treating them like comfort blankets. He'd adopted gripping onto something whilst he slept to make him feel safe, but it differed every time. If Ianto was holding him, it was his tie or the edge of his jacket, if Jack, usually one of his suspenders. He preferred fingers when he could get them, and he settled for the blanket Gwen had wrapped him in for the journey home on that very first night when he was in his crib.

Eventually, when Ianto wrenched his gaze from the endearing scene, he found it was time to move them and gently kissed Jack's lips, running a hand through his hair. He heard a slight growl of approval before pulling back to see his eyes blinking up at him. Jack looked down at the baby resting in his lap and smiled, never ceasing to be surprised at how perfect their son was.

He let Ianto lift Griffin up, holding him to his chest and letting the sleeping boy nestled his head under his chin, as he pushed himself up. Jack leaned forwards and kissed him slowly, wrapping his arms around the young man's waist, but being careful not to disturb the sleeping Griffin. Gently, he pulled back and smiled before kissing the little boy on the top of his head and Ianto's lips again.

Ianto turned and made his way upstairs, Jack gripping onto the back of his trouser waistband as he followed sleepily. They shuffled into the bedroom and Ianto tucked griffin into his cot, lying him on his back and making sure the blankets were secure. He paid special attention each night to making sure that the white woollen blanket with the stars on was lying close enough for him to find in his sleep.

He almost jumped when he felt strong arms around his waist, a mouth breathing gently on his neck and the soft heat of his partner's body behind him. He felt he mouth press a kiss to his neck and he twisted slowly in the arms to capture the mouth in a real kiss, a long, deep kiss that reminded both of the men just was kissing had been designed for.


	5. Sequel: Chapter 1

Right then! As so many people have wanted some further escapades of Griffin Harkness-Jones and his Daddies, I thought I would supply the crack for the masses! I actually came up with this idea a few nights ago, but I didn't have time to write it down, so I just kept thinking and rethinking it. Hopefully, it'll have paid off and you'll all like it!

Now, I'm determined to write a Gwen that isn't a comeplete jerkoff, and hopefully I've made a step towards making her slightly more likeable. I also wanted to write Rhys, as I really quite like the character! He's one of the best 'extras' on the show, coming second only to Captain John Hart (because you just can't beat that sexy messed up mofo!)

But yes! Enjoy and review (as always) and tell me if you think shoudl pursue it at all.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters below apart from Griffin Harkness-Jones, the others all belong to Russel T. Davies... He can have Griff if he wants him though -nudgenudge-winkwink-

* * *

_**One Accidental Step Further: The Sequel**_

**Chapter 1: Babysitters**

Over the following months, Griffin became a fully fledged member of the Torchwood team, spending the majority of his waking time being passed between Tosh, Gwen and even Owen at times. Jack and Ianto soon discovered that it was extremely nice to have people around them who were happy to help out with the baby, so neither protested.

When Griffin was about five months old, Rhys called Gwen during work one day and heard the giggling baby on her lap. This lead to an explanation of Jack and Ianto having adopted a little boy, and that he spent a lot of time in work. The next day, Jack said Rhys could swing by and meet the little boy after Gwen explained how much he liked children.

The little boy was completely struck with Rhys the moment Gwen passed him over. Jack was sitting, quite happily, watching Gwen and Rhys dote on the little boy when Ianto came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Jack turned round and shot Ianto a glance, the Welshman replying with an encouraging nod.

"Guys?" Jack looked over and Rhys looked up, smiling at the American for what seemed like the first time. The baby seemed to have washed away all bad feelings between them. "It's just, we were wondering if you two would mind babysitting for us sometime? You know, for a couple of hours or something, just to give us some time to ourselves."

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Gwen smiled and nodded before looking down at the little boy who'd just fallen asleep in her husband's arms. Rhys' smile broke into a grin and he looked excitedly at Gwen who started laughing at him. "It's my day off tomorrow, why don't we take him for the day?"

Ianto grinned behind Jack and nodded. "That sounds fantastic!" Jack turned and glared at him. "What? I haven't had a proper chance to clean the house up for ages, and it looks like a rubbish tip."

The two men exchanged glances and Jack turned around, nodding slowly. "Sure, he seems to like you both a lot anyway… And it'll be nice for him to spend some time away from here."

The two couples quickly set about arranging times and details for the next day, and when nine the next morning rolled around, Gwen and Rhys were taking Griffin off his fathers' hands, along with the buggy and a bag of baby stuff that would no doubt be needed during the day.

The first thing Jack did when the cog door rolled closed was pull Ianto into a deep and slightly violent kiss. It wasn't long before Jack pulled his partner into his office and started stripping him off against his desk, Ianto mimicking him. They had an extremely enjoyable twenty minutes before Ianto reminded Jack, reluctantly, that Owen and Tosh would be turning up in about ten minutes.

Jack grinned and allowed him to pull his suit back on before kissing him gently for a while longer, holding him close, in the emotional opposite of that first kiss. It was this versatility that kept Ianto guessing every morning, and he loved every second of it.

The day carried on in much the same fashion, stealing kisses in the office, or by the coffee machine, much to the other two's amusement. Jack was in such a good mood that he let them take off at around 5:00 pm, quickly getting Ianto to finish up his work, so they could head home.

Within half an hour, Jack was letting himself into the house and pulling Ianto in behind him, another passionate kiss following once their shoes were kicked off and coats were hung up. They ordered in Chinese and spent the evening much the same way as they would have before their son came along; having a vigorous session in the bedroom before ordering dinner and lounging in the living room to eat it, engrossed in whatever comedy re-run happened to be on.

At about 8:00 pm, Ianto remembered that Gwen and Rhys would be dropping Griffin back at 9:00 pm, and hurriedly pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt and set about quickly cleaning up the house; vacuuming the rooms briefly, picking up stray toys and cleaning the piles of dirty dishes sitting in the sink. He wasn't surprised to find Jack asleep on the sofa again, after having gotten dressed, as he'd become prone to sleeping whenever possible since Griffin had been born.

The time rolled past and soon Gwen was ringing the doorbell. They had a whispered conversation, since Griffin was asleep in her arms, as she passed him over and Ianto settled him upright against his shoulder, leaving him a hand free to help bring the things into the porch.

"Honestly, I've never seen Rhys so good with a baby before! But Griffin was completely fine, I don't think he cried once, just slept a fair bit." Ianto smirked to himself and stroked Griffin's rebellious hair gently before looking over to the car. "He fell asleep on the drive over, but he had a really good time. Thanks for letting us take him for the day."

"It's not a problem at all. More to the point, we should be thanking you! It was nice to have some time to ourselves, really nice." They shared a look and Gwen smothered a snort of laughter.

"Well, I'd better be getting him home and put to bed. If you ever need us to take him for the day, or even over night, don't hesitate to ask!" Gwen smiled and gave Ianto a quick hug before making her way back to her car and starting up the engine.

As she pulled away, Ianto felt Jack come up behind him and put an arm around his waist, stroking the top of his son's head with his free hand. Turning, Ianto saw the look of complete devotion in Jack's eyes as he looked at the sleeping baby and smiled. He gently handed Griffin over to Jack and carried the baby bag up to Griffin's room, dumping it in the corner.

Jack followed him into the nursery and Ianto stood by the door, watching as Jack laid the baby down in the cot and tucked him in, bending down to kiss him on the forehead gently. He turned, took Ianto's hand and led him back into the bedroom, a cheeky grin on his face that Ianto knew to mean only one thing.

* * *

Over the next few months, Griffin spent more days in the care of Gwen and Rhys until the couples decided it was about time that they sorted out dates for the next few months, as everyone involved was enjoying the arrangement. They soon worked out that Gwen and Rhys would take him for two or three days a month and he'd sleep at their flat on one of those occasions.

That gave Jack and Ianto a chance to not only spend more time together, but a night of undisturbed sleep to look forward to, should they choose to use it that way. They only used their night off for sleep once. The first time had been at the end of a cold that the baby had gotten, leading them all into several sleepless and noisy nights. Jack had managed to catch up on most of the sleep in the office when the two women were mothering over Griffin, but Ianto hadn't, so when Gwen and Rhys took the baby for the night, not only did Ianto sleep for the whole time, he went to bed and hour or so earlier than usual.

Jack hadn't objected, and had gotten rewarded on the next night with the baby away. Neither of them got more than a couple of hours of sleep, but had a much more enjoyable time.

Life in the hub soon returned to normal, as the older Griffin got, the more comfortable Jack and Ianto felt with leaving him in Jack's office, with a baby monitor, whilst they got on with their work in other areas of the hub. By the time he was approaching eleven months old, he was sleeping through the night, which also helped to normalise the social aspects of Jack and Ianto's relationship, and they soon returned to their old habits in the bedroom.

One evening, after the now normal routine of putting Griffin to bed, sharing a shower and having a stealthy session in the bedroom, the couple lay in bed, curled around each other. Jack was tracing shapes on Ianto's back with his fingertips, smiling as he closed his eyes, forcing Ianto to smile in return.

The young man couldn't help thinking that his life, at that point in time, was as close to perfect as he could've hoped for. He was with the man he loved and they had a life together, a son, sleeping happily in the next room. He stroked Jack's hair gently, eliciting a hum of contentment from the man before feeling him relax into sleep.

Ianto was settled down, feeling sleep tug at the edges of his mind when he heard a noise that wasn't in place with the night, pulling him back to consciousness. When he heard it for a second time, his heart missed a beat. He shook Jack awake violently and stared at him, wide eyed.

"What was THAT for?" Jack pulled back a little to focus his eyes on Ianto properly, a little startled at the look on Ianto's face. The blood had completely drained from it.

"You… Jack, you…" He swallowed hard and struggled to find the words.

"What is it?" Jack felt panic rise up in him, was something wrong with Griffin?

"Jack, you were just snoring." The two men looked at each other as the meaning of the words sunk into them both.


	6. Sequel: Chapter 2

Yay, finally some more from Griffin and friends (if anyone's still interested in this fic). Sorry for the long wait, but I hope to have this finished soon!

Please enjoy and review!

**Disclaimer**: I only know Griff, everything else belongs to Russel T. Davies.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Denial**

The next day, none of the other team members knew what was going on. Ianto and Jack had turned up to the hub several hours late, Ianto sporting dark rings under his eyes. Jack had Griffin in his arms and had headed straight to his office, both of the men avoiding everyone's eyes. None of them dared ask Ianto what had happened, leaving him to make his usual morning coffee rounds.

One look at Ianto's worried expression was enough to halt any verbal interactions with the others as he passed out the mugs before heading into Jack's office and closing the door, a little forcefully, behind him. Ianto found Jack sitting on the sofa, staring into space with Griffin curled up on his lap. The younger man was inclined to smile and forget the worries that were now plaguing him when his son noticed his arrival and turned around, his eyes glittering mischievously.

It was only then that Ianto noticed the pistol clutched in his hands, causing him to leap forwards and snatch the Webley off the boy, giving Jack a kick to the shin for good measure.

"Bloody hell, Jack!" Ianto growled, watching angrily as Jack snapped out of his trance and stared wildly around the room, trying to grasp the situation, his hands instinctively closing around the little boy to stop him from falling on the floor. It was only after he'd secured Griffin that he managed to look at Ianto, his gaze flickering between the gun in his hand and the rage in his eyes.

Jack just looked at him apologetically and shook his head a little before dropping his gaze to the floor. Ianto stood and watched the remorse flood Jack's face, the anger slowly starting to ebb away until he felt ashamed of himself for his reaction. He took a step closer and took Griffin from Jack, kissing the little boy briefly on the top of his head before lowering him down into the playpen set up behind Jack's desk.

When Ianto turned around, Jack was standing on the other side of the desk, his cup of coffee clutched in his hands. Ianto had to bite back a retort when he saw the look on the older man's face. His features were drawn into a frown of confusion, his skin several shades too pale. Ianto moved towards him and took the mug from his now shaking hands, placing it carefully on the desk and pulling Jack into a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry, Ianto." Jack's voice was a little muffled and he nestled his nose into Ianto's shoulder, sighing heavily.

"For the gun? That wasn't your fault, and it was out of bullets anyway." Ianto rubbed his back slowly, trying to keep the annoyance from his voice.

"If I'm this distracted by the possibilities of another kid, then what am I going to do if it actually turns up?" Ianto allowed himself a small smile at the mental image of a baby turning up, pre fabricated, on their doorstep.

"You're going to let me help, as usual." Jack sighed again and let go of Ianto, shaking his head as he moved round to the playpen, crouching down next to it and leaning his arms on the top, watching Griffin contentedly playing with a puzzle cube, several years too old for him. As he watched the little boy, he could imagine Ianto at the same age, already more intelligent than everyone else, constantly finding new challenges for himself.

"I'm sorry I got you into this mess again as well." He turned his head to look up at Ianto, now sitting comfortably in his desk chair.

"Jack, it was as much my fault as it was yours." Jack looked away at that, feeling that he'd let Ianto down. "We're only a couple of days in, four at the most, so don't even start worrying about it. Lets just take each day at a time."

"And avoid as many clichés as possible." Jack mumbled his reply, causing them both to smile and chuckle a little, the tension between them already lifting.

* * *

A little over a month later and it was the third day in a row that Jack had been throwing up now, and Ianto had decided to keep Jack at home until the afternoon, knowing that he'd be in a suitable state for work by then. When he'd hung up the phone after calling Owen at the hub, he'd made sure Jack was dozing again before going downstairs to make them both a coffee.

When he returned upstairs with the drinks, he automatically knew that Jack was kneeling over the toilet bowl, heaving up whatever remained in his stomach. Ianto shook his head and headed into the bathroom, sitting down on the edge of the bathtub.

"It's just the flu, Yan, don't worry about it." Jack's hoarse voice did little to convince Ianto of the state of Jack's health. He'd been insisting that he was just ill since he'd first started feeling nauseous, and seeing him press his cheek against the cool porcelain of the bowl made it a little hard to see through his charade.

"Jack, don't kid yourself." Jack sat back heavily, leaning against the radiator on the wall behind him and closing his eyes. The silence between them stretched on for a little bit longer than was comfortable. "Why do you try to?"

Ianto's voice was quieter than he'd expected it to be and he watched anxiously as Jack cracked first one eye open and then the other, directing his gaze to the young man.

"I just… I know how volatile these things are for the first few months." He leaned forwards and retrieved his coffee, taking a sip gratefully. "I don't think I could handle getting my hopes up and having them knocked down like that."

Ianto was a little concerned about the blatant pessimism that was coming from the older man, but pushed it away. It was probably just that Jack was down about being back on rations of pizza, various kinds of pastries and ice cream. For the past few days, Ianto had tried to stop Jack from eating anything that he knew would make him ill, but the stubborn streak in the older man had meant that he refused to act like he knew he was pregnant. Apparently, he was happy to suffer every morning if it meant he could deny it a little bit longer.

"You should at least eat something before we go back to work. I think there's some apple pie left in the fridge." Ianto sighed inwardly at the discovery of Jack's troubling behaviour and stood up, offering a hand to the other man, who took it and pulled himself to his feet.

"Ianto, I'm sorry." Jack had apologised regularly since he'd first started snoring again, much to Ianto's increasing annoyance. Every time he assured Jack that it took two of them to get into the situation, but every time Jack ignored him.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ianto heard noises coming from Griffin's room and he squeezed Jack's hand briefly before disappearing back upstairs to check on the boy, marvelling a little at the fact that he was still asleep this late in the morning. He'd just turned one year old, and as far as Ianto could tell, that was when they started waking up early in the morning and demanding attention. He didn't realise that both he and Jack had been heavy sleepers as babies, and it would've set his mind a little more at rest if he'd known.

He quickly set about getting the now wide awake infant ready for the following day and made his way, Griffin in his arms, down the stairs about forty minutes later. He found Jack sitting on the sofa, slumped down and feet propped against the coffee table, staring blankly at the screen.

"Jack?" The older man seemed to snap out of a trance, looking up at Ianto and smiling as his son started to chuckle and clap his hands at the sound of his name. "Can you take him for a minute?"

Jack smile widened and he held his hands out, slipping into his usual self a little more, playfully groaning as if Griffin was almost to heavy to hold. Ianto watched for a moment as the little boy laughed happily and curled up next to Jack, his head resting on his stomach and his fingers curled around Jack's hand, holding it to him like a comforter.

Ianto left them alone and went to finish cleaning up the kitchen, washing the dishes and making some toast for Grififn's breakfast, taking it through for Jack to feed him before going upstairs to grab the laundry basket and toss in all the clothes that lay abandoned on the bedroom floor and in the nursery.

When he returned to the living room, he found that Jack was noticeably happier, his passive smile lingering on his lips as he watched television, his eyes glittering with interest as he submerged himself in the storyline of 'Will and Grace'. Ianto settled down on the empty sofa and watched the rest of the episode, managing to smile genuinely by the time the credits rolled.

Jack sighed happily and scooped the baby up into his arms, standing and gathering the dirty plate and mug to take into the kitchen for cleaning. Ianto made his way through to the kitchen and leaned on the doorframe, watching Jack as he went about his business, talking to Griffin animatedly, his demeanour a world apart from what it had been an hour ago.

When he'd finished, he turned around and flashed Ianto a grin before tugging him out of the room and into the hallway, gathering up the day's necessities as he went. Ianto raised his eyebrows at him briefly before pulling his shoes on and taking Griffin from Jack to allow him to pull his boots on and don his coat. Jack leaned in and kissed his lips gently before opening the door and leading the way out into the bright spring morning.

As Ianto strapped Griffin into his car seat, he made a mental note to talk to Owen about Jack.


	7. Sequel: Chapter 3

I must apologise now for the extremely long wait, but if it's any consolation, I've finished writing it now. There're two more chapters, and the possibility of an epilogue, should people want there to be one.

Please read and review! Comments are what keep my muses alive and kicking!

**Disclaimer**: I only own Griffin, everything else is thanks to Russel T. Davies.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Disaster Strikes**

The end of the day was rolling around and the team were experiencing a rather welcome lull in the usual daily proceedings. After hours of deliberation, Ianto now took his chance to speak to Owen about Jack. He discreetly made his way down into the autopsy bay, where the medic was hiding, and leaned against the wall.

"Yes, tea-boy?" Owen asked wearily, not moving his eyes from the file he was reading. "Griffin got a cold again? I told Jack not to get worried every time he sneezed."

"It's not Griffin." Ianto replied, his tone flat and a little dark. Owen looked up instantly, inquisitively, inviting Ianto to carry on. "It's Jack. We're pretty sure he's… you know…"

It was still a slightly awkward topic for the two men, despite the fact that they were infinitely more involved in the proceedings than the two women, who took it in their stride. Owen just nodded, wanting to get the rest of the story out of Ianto. He wasn't dense enough to think that Ianto would react this way to the possibility of another baby. There was something more.

"The thing is, Jack's not dealing with it well… not at all, in fact. He denies it every time I try to bring it up and he's completely withdrawn when he's on his own. I can barely get through to him. The only time he seems himself is with Griff." Ianto sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes and avoiding Owen's expression.

"Well… without looking at Jack and doing tests, I can't really give an accurate diagnosis, you know that." He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment whilst he mulled over his thoughts. "I think we also both know that he's not going to let me do tests, but I do know what you're talking about… I've caught him staring off into space when he's alone in his office."

"As much as I hate to say it, I'm worried that he'll do something… That he'll kill himself or something." Ianto muttered, looking embarrassed with himself for saying it. He felt guilty as soon as he spoke the words, like he was betraying the man he loved. "Only if it gets worse though."

"Don't worry Ianto, nothing we say here's going to leave the room." Owen was in his professional mode, something Ianto was exceedingly glad about. "It sounds to me like he's depressed, which I'm sure you'd agree with. From experience, we can't give him drugs because his body burns them up too quickly. Rapidly fluctuating moods and mental alterations aren't going to do him any good."

The two men looked at each other hard. A message seemed to go between them without being spoken, something that Owen grimaced at and made Ianto feel his stomach drop through his feet. Ianto simply nodded and headed up the stairs, turning briefly as Owen called him.

"Ianto?" He met the medic's sympathetic eyes. "I've got to try to talk to him. I've got to make sure he knows all the options, you know that."

"Yeah," The young man felt himself deflate a little further. "I'm going to be down in the archives… Tosh and Gwen have taken Griffin out, I'd go talk to him now if I were you."

Ianto carried on his walk and headed steadily through the hub, ignoring the darkened office that was so eerily quiet. There was no angry yelling at a UNIT or governmental official over the phone, no playful banter with the local police force, no innuendos drifting out to him in the hope of a new cup of coffee. It was still. He carried on, suppressing the anxiety burning in his chest, ignoring the sympathetic grimace of Owen as he emerged from the autopsy bay and made his way to the office next door.

Owen knocked gently on the slightly open door, but didn't wait for a reply to enter. He stepped inside and stood a few feet away from the desk with his hands in his pockets. He watched Jack as the captain slowly drew his eyes away from the spot on the wall he'd been inspecting and swivelled in his seat to face him.

"What can I help you with, Owen?" he asked casually, his tone that of non-chalence. Jack's eyes were distant, his expression weary.

"I think it's the other way round, Jack." Owen's words seemed to hit him, and a small amount of the forced bravado slipped away. "We need to have a pretty serious talk."

"It's just the flu, I'll be fine in a few days." Jack's words were commanding and his eyes fixed Owen's forcefully.

"Don't get cute with me, Harkness." Owen looked at him scathingly. "It's not the flu, it's not an illness at all. Whatever you're telling yourself it is, it needs to stop. You're doing more harm to the both of you than good."

Jack opened his mouth to interrupt, but Owen cut him off. "I understand that it's another huge change to your lives, but as much as it pains me to say it, you're hurting Ianto and soon you'll be hurting Griffin. They need you and you need to stop this and face up to what's happening."

Jack slumped completely, resigned to what Owen was saying. He closed his mouth and looked away. Owen just dogged on with what he had to say. "Once you've accepted it, there's two options; work through this all and carry on or have a termination."

"No," Jack snarled, sitting up sharply and slamming his hands down on the desk, glaring at the medic.

"Well then, buck up your ideas and try not to wallow in too much self-pity." Owen challenged, fighting back a smirk. "I would give you something to help you get through the next few months, but there's nothing that wouldn't just mess your mind up. You're a very hard person to medicate, Jack. All I can say is that I'll be monitoring you and we'll stick with this as long as possible. The moment there's any danger to you or the baby, I'll operate, but not a moment sooner. You can trust me on that."

They continued to look at each other grudgingly for a moment more before Owen silently turned and left the office. _I really should get a raise for this_, he thought, slipping back into his usual persona.

* * *

The next few months saw the team becoming increasingly concerned with Jack's behaviour. At first, Jack had been fine, he'd snapped out of whatever was holding him under and the team had enjoyed having him back, especially Ianto. However, he'd soon started to slip away again, within several weeks. Owen had told the two women the situation as soon as they'd handed Griffin over to Ianto on that first evening, and since then the three had been on alert for both Jack _and_ Ianto.

Jack was obvious. The aim was to stop him, at all costs, killing himself. He was in shock, probably suffering from depression due the unplanned pregnancy. If he was dead for the usual ten to twenty minutes then the baby would be brain damaged, or dead. That was the last thing that any of them wanted to happen. By roughly the six month mark, Owen had a complete operating tray set up and shelved for easy access should the time arise.

When it came to Ianto, the three needed to support him more than usual. They needed to take some of his jobs and look after Griffin when needs be. Gwen and Rhys took him for more days out and Tosh managed to cut back on his administration tasks. All he really had to do now was keep the archive up to date and go on runs.

They'd soon worked out that someone needed to stay in the hub with Jack at all times, and by about the four months mark, Ianto had forced him to stop going on runs. That left the usual team of five for callouts at a queasy total of three. However, they pulled together and made it work.

Jack had steadily become quieter and darker, only talking to anyone but Ianto on occasion. Even when he did talk to the young man, he was barely there, something which caused Ianto to become extremely concerned over. The only thing that could pull him back, even for a little while, was looking after Griffin. Ianto reasoned that as soon as their son couldn't get through to him, they were running out of time.

Owen and Ianto became increasingly more stressed as the weeks progressed. When they were safely past twenty four weeks, Ianto began to lose sleep. When they were at twenty eight weeks, he'd developed full blown, stress related insomnia, something which Owen tried to treat with sleeping pills. By thirty four weeks, Owen had given up on trying to get Ianto to sleep as he himself was succumbing to the stress. The two had become surprisingly companionable over the past week.

It was partly thanks to this newly forged friendship that what happened that evening wasn't the disaster it could so easily have been.

* * *

For the past week, Jack had slept more, only waking for long enough to sign a few documents and have a cup of coffee. Ianto forced him to eat; the source of many arguments between them. He also tried to get Jack to look after Griffin more often, but the man had practically ignored the little boy for several days now.

As was the usual Thursday afternoon plan, Tosh and Gwen took Griffin for a walk to the local playground, getting the little boy (and themselves) out of the hub and into an atmosphere that was infinitely lighter and happier for all of them. Owen was down in the autopsy bay, flicking through some filing he was reluctantly finishing, humming something that sounded to Ianto like the Rolling Stones. The young man managed a smile as he dropped the coffee for the medic off before bracing himself and heading into Jack's office.

Tonight was different to usual, Jack was sitting at his desk, his chin resting on one of his hands, his elbow on the desk. His gun was lying on the table and he was staring off into space. Ianto tried to ignore the scene in front of him, but he caught a glimpse of Jack's eyes. It was normal for Ianto to see them this empty, this distant and pained. It was like a stab to the gut each time he glanced at them, to the point where he'd avoided them for the past couple of days.

"Here's your coffee." Ianto put the coffee mug down with a little more force than necessary, the sight of the uneaten food on his desk making him angry.

"What's the problem, Ianto?" Jack's voice was just as distant and empty as his eyes.

"Why haven't you eaten?" Ianto managed to reign himself in and kept a gentle, inviting tone in his voice.

"I wasn't hungry." Jack said flatly, looking away at the wall again. Ianto didn't make a move to say anything else, something which made Jack look back. "You standing there and watching me isn't going to make me eat, you know."

"I know." Ianto forced himself to look back at Jack's eyes and he felt a strange happiness to see a flash of annoyance in them. It was a start, at least. "You need to eat, Jack, even if _you_ aren't hungry."

"Isn't it enough that I'm still alive here?" Jack growled, spitting his words out contemptuously. Ianto felt a stab of hurt somewhere deep inside, but he was immensely surprised to see Jack suddenly remorseful, regret glittering where the annoyance had been. "I'm sorry Ianto, I just keep messing everything up, don't I?"

Ianto paid full attention, freezing in position. Jack hadn't apologised for a long, _long_ time. "Jack… what's wrong?"

"Everything's wrong!" He looked at Ianto desperately, imploringly. "I shouldn't be putting you through this, Yan! We shouldn't be in this mess and I should've done this a long time ago."

Before Ianto could begin to protest, Jack had picked up the gun, placed it to his chin with a look of deep apology and remorse, and fired. There was a sickening crunch and Jack's lifeless head lolled back against the chair, his arm falling to his side limply as the gun clattered on the concrete floor.


	8. Sequel: Chapter 4

I understand I left you with a pretty nasty cliffhanger there... sorry! I must say, the respone had been most encouraging! I'm glad I've finished this now, that there's no open ends to it. I know this one's a little darker, but I thought there needed to be some trauma in the second pregnancy, please don't kill me?

This chapter goes out to **TracyLynn**, who I think I made a little upset with what happened in the last chapter. Thanks for having faith in me though!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, apart from Griffin (yes, he makes an appearance!), rest is down to Russel T. Davies

* * *

**Chapter 4: Race Against Time**

Ianto didn't miss a beat.

"OWEN!" He roared, not bothering with the intercom. Without waiting for the medic, he ran to Jack's side and pulled him off the chair, lying his body down on the floor and beginning compressions. He may be dead, but they needed to keep oxygen and blood flowing round his body, no matter how artificially.

"Shit." There was the sound of a breaking mug as Owen arrived at the door, dropping the coffee that had been in his hands. Ianto didn't need to look up to know that Owen had already disappeared to go get the surgical kit. A minute or so later, Ianto saw knees on the other side of the body. "Keep that up, don't stop until he comes back around or I've got the baby out."

Ianto didn't need telling twice, he kept up the CPR and tried to ignore the screaming voice in his head telling him that his baby was going to die. He just stayed quiet and listened to Owen.

"He's going to do his usual gasping, spluttering and flailing as he comes around, so if I'm still working, I need you to pin him down. He's not going to be sedated and he's going to be in a fucking huge amount of pain." Owen had already cute open the shirt and t-shirt, daubing antiseptic across Jack's stomach to prep it. "If I'm halfway through and he starts moving, one cut could mean something serious to the baby."

Ianto nodded sharply and carried on compressions. He watched this time as Owen cut through the layers of skin and muscle to expose whatever it was that Jack had in place of a uterus. Ianto briefly reached up and opened the comms in his earpiece, knowing that both women had theirs in.

"Tosh, Gwen, get back _now_." There was no argument. Ianto moved his hand back to continue working on Jack's lifeless body as he explained. "We have a situation. When you get back, one of you will need to keep Griffin out of the office. The other one of you will need to follow Owen's instructions."

Ianto reached over and deftly switched on the earpiece in Owen's ear. He nodded and carried on his task as Owen gave them a list of things they would need to retrieve from the autopsy bay as soon as they returned.

He'd stopped for a moment as he got down to the last layer, not wanting to make a mistake whilst his attention was split. He exchanged the briefest of looks with Ianto before carrying on and cutting open the membrane, sending a cascade of liquid over the floor. Ianto acknowledged the five minute estimated arrival time of the women for them both.

"Ianto, you can stop doing those now." Ianto stopped and pulled his hands back, waiting for his next instructions, which came almost immediately. "Get me something, anything to wrap her in."

_Her_… Ianto didn't have time to think on it as he delved through the cupboard for one of Jack's t-shirts, tossing a couple of them to Owen as he cut the cord and pulled the tiny baby free from the mess of Jack's stomach.

"Come on… come on! Get going…" Owen urged anxiously, whispering as he lay the little bundle on the t-shirts, pulling his stethoscope from around his neck and listening to the delicate chest for a heartbeat. There was a soft, slightly choked mewling sound before the volume rose a little and she became more sure of herself, working through the uncertain splutters to a full pelt cry that encouraged and relieved both the men.

Owen quickly folded the cloth around her and passed her gently to Ianto, who folded her into his arms with the experience he'd lacked with Griffin. Owen took a moment to smile at the look of peace on the young man's face as he sat back against the wall, in the shadows; his sleeves rolled up, his trousers wrinkled and stained. He nodded in approval at the sight and get to work on stitching Jack up.

He was halfway through the process, moving on to the layers of muscle when there was a ragged, wild intake of breath and a hand clutched his arm frantically. There were several more frenzied breaths before he calmed down and Jack's eyes met Owen's. The medic tore his stare away quickly, working on finishing up the stitching. He was silently pleased at the winces and groans of pain coming from Jack.

There was a gasp of shock from the doorway and Owen grimaced as he looked up to see Gwen standing there, blankets and baby clothes in a bundle in her arms. She took in the scene for a moment and pieced the events of the past few minutes together with a meaningful look from Owen. He pointed his head over to Ianto, a little relieved to see that Jack's eyes were still scrunched closed, his teeth gritted against the pain. Something inside Owen made him feel like Jack didn't deserve to see the peaceful sight of Ianto and their daughter.

As Gwen walked into the room, Owen sat Jack up, back to Ianto, and heaved him to his feet, dragging him out of the door before Gwen could start talking to the young man. Owen pulled the semi conscious captain down to the autopsy bay, pushing him down onto the steel medical table where he sat, rubbing his head.

"Headache?" Owen asked, his voice blisteringly cold.

"Owen, I'm-" Jack began, cut off at the glare from the doctor as he pushed him back to finish up on the wound across his stomach.

"I'm not the one you need to apologise to, Jack." He concentrated on cleaning up the wound and covering it. "It's Ianto and your baby girl that you should be begging forgiveness from."

Jack was silent as Owen's words sunk in. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard against the tears threatening to fall. All he could feel was overwhelming guilt, blinding him to the severity of the pain from his abdomen and the cold that was starting to set into his torso. He must've started shivering because Owen broke the silence that had descended.

"Stay here. Do not move one inch. You are not to leave that spot until I tell you that you can." Jack looked up and nodded at the serious expression on the usually relaxed face.

Owen left the room and headed into the office, where Ianto was still sitting against the wall, the tiny baby now dressed in a too big baby grow and a blanket. He was murmuring gently with Gwen, both of them watching the little girl carefully as she slept, mesmerised. Ianto looked up as Owen entered, concern etched across his face.

"How is he?" Despite everything Ianto had just been through, the affection and worry for Jack was dominant. He didn't seem to be the least bit angry. _Jack doesn't deserve him sometimes…_ Owen just smiled and nodded, eliciting a grin from the younger man as he looked back down at the bundle in his arms. Owen retrieved another t-shirt from the drawer Ianto had raided earlier and made his way back to the medical table. He tossed the shirt at Jack, who was sitting up and staring into space. It hit him squarely in the face and he groaned slightly before he pulled it on.

"I want to see them, Owen." Jack's voice was stern, calm and settled. Owen turned round and observed him for a moment. He was already back in pretty much his usual shape, the regeneration having sped up the tightening of the skin over his stomach dramatically.

"Not yet." The image of Ianto sitting in the office was still fresh in his mind. The young man deserved a little more time alone. "I would suggest going to show your son that you're still alive, though. You haven't exactly been a prominent figure in his life for the past few days."

A flash of pain marred Jack's careful expression for a moment, but he nodded and pushed himself up, heading out of the room. He looked around the hub and noticed Tosh sitting in the boardroom. Almost running, he made his way up, taking the stairs two at a time as he swung round the door. Tosh looked up at him wearily, but at the movement, the little boy sitting next to her looked up as well, grinning manically.

Tosh couldn't help but smile as well as she noticed, not for the first time, the stunning resemblance between father and son as they smiled. The little boy reached his arms out to Jack as the man walked across the room and scooped him up, Griffin giggling and bouncing, into a tight embrace. The toddler gripped around his neck and buried his face into Jack's shoulder, wriggling closer into the embrace as Jack sat down with a gentle sigh.

He could feel the mist that had clouded his vision and thoughts for the past months had lifted with his regeneration, and he took in the sight of his son with both regret and happiness. It had been too long since he'd held him like this, since he'd devoted this kind of attention to the little boy.

"Jack, what happened?" Tosh's voice was quiet, tentative. Jack had almost forgotten that she was there.

"I… I don't really know…" Jack mused, feeling shame in his heart already. "You all know I wasn't well, I wasn't myself. I think I'd finally had enough of not being myself, of feeling like I was constantly falling, of the paranoia and the depression. I shouldn't have done it, I know… I just hope they can forgive me for it."

His voice was quiet as he admitted what had happened, but he was grateful to feel Tosh squeeze his shoulder gently in encouragement.

"It's not your fault, Jack. It could've happened to anyone." He looked up and she smiled. "The important thing is that it worked out in the end. Ianto's not going to hold this against you."

Jack looked down again as the little boy who's been gently stroking the back of his head squirmed again, twisting round and righting himself so he could carry on with the colouring on the table in front of them. Jack watched as he picked up the crayon and continued his work. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to one side as he watched the drawing take shape, deciphering the multicoloured scribbles in a way he'd become especially adept at.

"Since when did Myfanwy wear bows?" He looked over at Tosh in alarm and they both started to laugh, watching as the picture became more and more bizarre.


	9. Sequel: Chapter 5

Yaya, final chapter... I think I'll be doing a 'X Years Later' thing as an epilogue sometime soon, bare with me on that! I hope you enjoy :)

**Disclaimer**: I own the kids, but not the parents. Torchwood characters and location are belongings of Russel T. Davies

* * *

**Chapter 5: Introductions**

Gwen had managed to take the baby from Ianto, despite his protests, and had helped keep Ianto away whilst Owen checked her over for any signs of brain damage or development issues. This gave Ianto the opportunity to change into a clean pair of trousers before heading down to the autopsy bay to get Owen's report.

"She's fine, just a little smaller than normal." Owen smiled at him as Ianto headed down the stairs to look at the little girl again, happily asleep in Gwen's arms. The woman handed her over and Ianto waited until she'd settled back down before looking up at the other two. "I'll do regular check ups til I'm completely happy."

"Sure. I'm going to go hang out on the sofa by Tosh's desk." The other two look at him with tightened expressions, but he just nodded firmly and made his way up the stairs. As he walked, he hummed gently to himself, looking up to see Tosh peering around the door to the boardroom with excitement and apprehension, most likely for the same reason as Gwen and Owen. Ianto gave her the same response and turned to find the other two approaching him.

When he looked round again, he found Tosh standing expectantly, a huge smile on her face. Ianto chuckled softly and eased the sleeping baby into her arms, smiling sleepily as she sat down on the sofa with a look of awe on her face. He marvelled at just how tired he was feeling at half two in the afternoon. _It must be the lack of sleep catching up with me_, he thought, grimacing slightly at the fact that it wasn't going to get any easier.

His thoughts shifted away from the vaguely stressful situation he now found himself in when he heard a low murmur of caution, several soft, hesitant footsteps and felt a tight grip around his leg. Grinning, he looked down at the little boy who'd just arrived. Griffin had learnt to walk over the past couple of months, and he still couldn't do it very well, no more than two or three steps without falling over.

It was the innocent I-didn't-do-anything expression, that reminded him so much of Jack, that made Ianto scoop him up and nuzzle his chest, much to Griffin's approval. The little boy settled down with his thumb in his mouth, laying his head sideways on Ianto's shoulder, his free hand holding onto the young man's earlobe. He made his usual noises of contentment and approval as he got himself into the position.

Ianto turned to the side then to find Jack standing by Tosh's desk, hovering nervously on the edge of the scene. Ianto managed to disentangle Griffin and pass him to Gwen, where he settled down again, just as happily, before walking slowly over to Jack, their never wavering. He stopped a few inches away from the older man and just looked into his eyes, his own betraying nothing of his thoughts.

After a few moments of the intense gaze, he leaned forwards and kissed Jack fiercely, his hands moving to the back of his neck to pull him closer. The kiss deepened and Jack's arms came around Ianto's waist, pulling him close as they shared one of the most emotional kisses of their lives. In those few moments, Ianto received more apologies and grief than he'd ever experienced from Jack and the captain was granted absolution without any need for trial or deliberation. They were stronger than that.

"I'm so sorry, Ianto." Jack pulled away and looked earnestly at Ianto. The young man shook his head gently and brushed away the tears on Jack's cheeks with his thumbs, kissing him once more before taking his hand.

"Go say hello." They looked at each other for another long moment before Ianto pushed Jack firmly towards Tosh and the sofa. Ianto headed back over to Gwen to relieve her of the now protesting Griffin, shooting all three of his colleagues with warning looks. Now was not the time to make Jack feel guilty, Lord knows he already felt bad enough.

Ianto watched Jack as he sat down gingerly on the coffee table, opposite Tosh and watched the tiny baby as she snuffled her way through a comfortable sleep. He reached forwards and stroked her arm gently where it had come free from the blanket. He rested his fingers gently on her stomach and watched her face. He almost jerked away as the tiny hand found and gripped one of his fingers.

After a few moments, Tosh started to shift her arms a little and Jack pulled his hand away. He was surprised when she edged forward on her seat and held the baby out gently for him to take. He looked up at Ianto with concern, but the young man just nodded, smiling as he swayed slightly with Griffin wrapped in his arms again. Jack turned his attention back to Tosh and carefully took the bundle from her, sitting back slightly as he shifted the tiny weight to make sure she completely safe.

The change in position caused the tiny eyes to blink open a little, her mouth pouting slightly at the disturbance. She sucked in a breath and promptly fell asleep again. Jack couldn't help but smile in astonishment as he watched her sleep, feeling more at peace than he had since the beginning of the entire thing. He barely noticed as the tension in the people surrounding him started to fade away. There was bound to be some concern and irritation between everyone, but right now, as he watched his daughter sleep obliviously, he didn't much care. He looked up and met Ianto's eyes again.

"There's someone else who needs an introduction, I think." Jack spoke quietly, so as not to disturb the baby or excite Griffin too much. He was relaxed into the same position as before, sucking his thumb against Ianto's shoulder.

There was a faint protest form him as Ianto moved over to sit where Tosh had just vacated. As the young man sat down, Griffin grumbled and wriggled until he was facing Jack, intending to escape the disturbances that the current parent seemed to be inflicting on him. He stopped, wide eyed, at the sight of the new arrival.

"Ohhhhh…" He breathed, suddenly twisting round and gazing up at Ianto with awe and surprise on his face, gabbling a sentence or two of toddler-speak, pointing a finger at the tiny baby. Ianto just smiled and placed him down on the floor between himself and Jack, letting him stagger forwards to grip onto the other man's knees as he leaned forwards to get a closer look.

"What do you think?" Ianto leaned down, holding onto the little boy gently. He caught a vague sound of approval from him before Griffin twisted round and reached out for Ianto to pick him up again. He settled back against Ianto's chest and started to suck his thumb again, arranging himself so he could continue watching the sleeping baby. Ianto looked back up at Jack. "What do _you_ think? And I think she needs a name before we go any further…"

Jack dragged his eyes upwards to Ianto's and smiled. "Niamh?"

"I think that fits her perfectly." Their eyes locked together and smiled at each other, unbelievably happy in their own little world with just the four of them. The magic was broken at the sound of a disgruntled yawn and gentle mutterings as Griffin twisted round in Ianto's loose arms to get back to his previous position.

The young man laughed lightly and wrapped his arms tightly around the little boy, cradling him to his chest as the little hand gripped onto the hair on the back of his neck and the small head rested on his shoulder with a sigh. Ianto looked up at Gwen, who'd perched on the edge of Tosh's desk.

"Gwen, have you got-" He didn't get a chance to finish as Gwen produced Griffin's comfort blanket from the bag on the chair and passed it to him to tuck around the now sleeping toddler.

"Ianto, do you want me to go back to your house and pick up anything?" She moved over to sit next to him on the sofa, glancing at the silent form of Jack before looking back at Ianto. "You'll need the car seat and some provisions soon anyway. Griff looks too comfortable for you to put down and you shouldn't be away from them, not yet."

"Thanks Gwen, that'd be great… do you remember where everything is?" She smiled and nodded.

"I'm sure I can find everything, don't worry. Under the stairs and Griff's room, right?" She questioned, just to make sure.

"Yeah," Ianto nodded, suddenly looking tired. "My keys are in my coat pocket and my wallet's in my desk drawer, get some money out to buy what you think she needs. Can you get her some clothes too?"

"Of course I can, she needs some girly things, especially surrounded by you three!" Gwen laughed softly as she got up and headed up to the Tourist Office, Tosh flashing the young man a grin as she followed after her. Ianto just smiled and sat back, closing his eyes and sighing.

"Right!" Ianto's eyes snapped open a moment later at the sound of Owen's voice. "If you two are done with the dramatics now, I'm going to get pizza. I'm starving."

He shrugged on his jacket and headed moodily out of the hub to the sound of Jack's quiet chuckling. He looked over at Ianto, who'd closed his eyes again, resting his head back on the sofa. Jack couldn't help but smile at the sight ofhim and their son, so calm and innocent. Very gently, he stood up and moved over to sit next to them, leaning down to kiss Griffin's arm softly before settling back.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of Ianto's breathing even out and slow a little, breathing in time with the sleeping toddler, unconsciously. As he relaxed his mind and concentrated on the little source of warmth in his arms, Jack felt a surge of pride and contentment.

_Who'd have thought that I wanted to be as far away from this place as I could for all those years_? he thought as he drifted off into the tranquil sleep that had already claimed the three bodies around him.


	10. Final Epilogue

Okay, final part for here! This is just something I felt had to be done really. I thought it'd show a good group dynamic and how the babies affected life in Torchwood Three. With this, it's the official end of 'One Accidental Step Further', I hope you all enjoyed it.

(the description of Ianto in this is a mix of the Doctor and Dr. John Carter in series 11 of ER, to anyone who may be interested)

Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone!

**Disclaimer**: I only own the children, not the parents or their work colleagues. They belong to Russel T. Davies and their respective actors and actresses.

* * *

_**16 years, 3 months and 4 days later…**_

The huge cog door rolled back to reveal two young people walking casually down the corridor behind and into the hub.

The first of them was a young man with dark brown hair, flopping across his face and into his clear blue eyes, providing the perfect frame for the intellect and sharp humour that glittered in them. The eighteen year old was tall and slender, his school uniform wrapped around his frame in a stylishly casual way; a testament to both his fathers. If his current appearance was anything to go by, the young man would pull off devilishly handsome in tailored suits exceptionally well in his life.

The second was a girl, perhaps a head shorter than the young man, with the same, clear blue eyes, framed with auburn hair that fell past her shoulders several inches in gentle waves. The eyes it framed, however, were full of a playful amusement, tempered with a patience beyond her sixteen years.

The girl walked quickly to catch up with her brother and fell into step with him, her bouncing footsteps contrasting with the young man's smooth, graceful stride. When they reached the area by the workstations, the boy held out his hand and without either needing to look at what they were doing, the girl dropped her school back-pack into his proffered hand. He dumped their bags on the sofa behind Tosh's desk and folded his school blazer carefully next to them.

Rolling the white shirt's sleeves up to his elbows, he made his way over to the Japanese woman sitting at her computers. He pulled up the second chair tucked under the desk and sat down.

"Hi, Griff," Tosh turned and smiled at the young man, "how was school?"

"Well, you know… It was school. Not exactly challenging." He replied in a low voice, his accent unplaceable. Both he and his sister had a mixture of Welsh, English and American spins on their words, creating an entirely new dialect that only those two shared. Griffin smiled at Tosh, the amusement sparkling in his eyes as he reached over and pulled the laptop he worked on towards him. "So, what're we working on today?"

Tosh laughed gently and pulled out a file, handing Griffin the sheets of coding and half completed mathematical equations. For the past few months, the young man had been helping Tosh with her work when he arrived after school. They had soon found a rhythm in the proceedings that they both enjoyed, finding it relaxing. They became close friends quickly, just as Tosh and Ianto had become all those years ago after the incident with Lisa.

As Griffin had folded his blazer neatly, the girl had run head on into the autopsy bay, stopping doubled over the banister at the top, her hair swinging forward over her shoulders as she grinned at the man below her.

"Hi, Uncle Owen!" The medic looked up and smiled at the girl.

"Hey, kid, how're you today?" He snorted briefly at the look of indignance, so like Jack's own disapproving look, flashed across her face at the nickname Owen had long ago started using.

"I have a name, you know, you might care to use it." After a moment, she beamed at him again, sitting down on the floor and swinging her legs over the ledge, leaning her elbows on the railing that was normal knee height.

"Whatever, you know I never listen to you, Niamh." Owen looked back down at the body he'd been cutting up and smiled to himself briefly, considering just how he'd become 'Uncle Owen'.

When Niamh had been teething, there had been a particularly sticky day in which she refused to be put down by either Jack or Ianto. By the middle of the afternoon, Ianto was on his last leg and Jack had practically glazed over completely. In a rare fit of selflessness, Owen had taken the baby from the captain's unresisting arms and sat down on the sofa.

To everyone's surprise, instead of bawling her head off, she'd sat quietly and looked up at him with interest filling her eyes. It had been a tradition, from that moment on, that Niamh went to Owen when the her fathers needed a break. For some reason, he felt a strange protectiveness for the little girl, probably because of how involved he'd been with the difficult situation of her birth.

She was also partly responsible for the relationship that he'd developed with Tosh, as the woman had helped him on many occasion when he'd been babysitting and had needed help. The pair had been together for a little over ten years now.

A new voice snapped him back to the present, making him look up to find who had turned up.

"Seriously? You go to _Owen_ first?" The voice drawled sceptically. Owen rolled his eyes as the girl jumped up and rushed to the figure leaning on the doorframe.

"Daddy!" She flung herself at the man and hugged him hard, burying her face in the strong chest as arms came around her to return the embrace. After a moment, she tilted her head back and looked up, smiling happily.

"Hey, sweetheart." The man leaned forwards and kissed her on the forehead gently. "But still, you go to _Owen_ first?"

"I guess there's something about me that attracts the female population, Jack." Owen replied, a grin on his face as he looked up at the captain.

"Careful, Harper, that's my little girl you're talking about." He growled, the humour in his eyes betraying the glower fixed on his face. "By the way, do you know where Ianto is? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Nope, sorry… Probably in his precious archives or making coffee." Owen had turned back to the dead body and Jack snorted gently, turning Niamh and himself away, heading back into the main section of the hub and towards Tosh's workstation. He reached a hand out to ruffle Griff's hair, but the young man ducked at precisely the right time.

"How do you _do_ that?" Jack asked incredulously. The boy twisted in his seat and smiled at his dad as if he was missing something very key in the situation.

"If you insist on 'creeping up' on me whilst I'm looking at a computer, I'm going to see you." He raised his eyebrows and twisted back round, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he inputted more codes, flicking his hair out of his eyes with a casual shake of his head. Jack just rolled his eyes and dropped his arm from around Niamh's shoulders to lean on the back of his son's chair.

"What're you working on?" His eyes flickered between the various computer screens, deciphering and unravelling what they showed to a lesser extent than how Tosh, Ianto and Griff would have done.

"A new command code to open the Rift in specific places, on both ends. A passage, if you will." Griff replied smoothly, without looking away from the screen in front of him. Jack nodded briefly, his natural reaction to being told something like that, something which he very loosely grasped.

"Well, that sounds great. I'll leave this in your capable hands." He turned away, leaving Niamh perched on the desk and watching her brother work. As a second thought, Jack turned back to face them. "Oh, and Griff? Try not to be too disheartened when Tosh whips your butt at the technical genius stuff."

Tosh chuckled to herself and Griffin gave his dad a disapproving roll of the eyes as Jack walked away, hands in pockets, to find Ianto. His first thought was the archives, but when he glanced at his watch, he changed course, betting that the man would be sorting out his usual mid afternoon caffeine dose. He sauntered up the stairs to the kitchen area and as he turned the corner, he saw a sight to make him smile.

Ianto was standing back the coffee machine, biting his bottom lip gently as he filled the mug in his hand up. The concentration across his features was extremely endearing. Over the past sixteen years, the man Jack had fallen in love with had changed surprisingly little. His shoulders were perhaps a little broader, his face a little creased with 'laugh lines' (mostly due to Jack though) and his hairstyle had adapted slightly; his brown hair a little longer and flopping casually over his forehead. It reminded Jack of someone he'd not seen since before Griffin was born.

However, the most marked change to his appearance was the stubble that peppered the lower half of his face. Several years ago now, Ianto had decided that shaving every morning was too much hassle. It had taken Jack a little while to get used to the change, but once he had, the pros dramatically outweighed the cons. Occasionally, he still shaved, just for the variety in the bedroom, but the beard was a given now, and along with the longer hairstyle, it served to make the man as delectable as ever.

Smiling, Jack walked up behind his partner and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist, humming in approval at the smell of the coffee. He buried his face into the side of Ianto's neck and kissed the delicate skin beneath his ear gently. He felt the body in his arms move and pulled away to capture the lips now facing him, growling his appreciation. The kiss was deep and luxurious, a thing to be enjoyed whilst it lasted.

Which wasn't long. After a couple of minutes, there was a call.

"TAD!" Ianto groaned and pulled away from Jack reluctantly, heading to the railing and leaning on it, looking down to find Niamh standing in the middle of the workstations and looking around.

"Up here, sweetheart, what do you need?" Ianto smiled fondly at his daughter as the blue eyes swivelled round to meet his. There was a happy grin and a sudden movement as she waved enthusiastically to him, a greeting which made him chuckle in return.

"I just wanted to say hello." She beamed for a moment more before heading back to the autopsy bay to pester her 'Uncle' Owen again. There'd been several long and painful arguments with her about assisting the medic in his duties. She'd argued that Griff was allowed to help Tosh, so she should be allowed to help Owen. Ianto had argued that Griff's work didn't involve slicing and dicing potentially toxic substances and cataloguing them. Jack had stayed quiet throughout all of them, acting as the neutral zone between times.

Shaking his head in amusement, Ianto turned back to the coffee machine and quickly produced several more mugs of coffee, handing Jack's to him as he piled the rest onto a tray and carried them downstairs. With his usual efficiency, he dropped off Tosh's and Griffin's before moving down to the autopsy bay for the other two.

As he was about to leave the room, he heard the siren go off, alerting everyone to the door opening. With a look of intense excitement, Niamh's head whipped up, her hair flying smoothly over her shoulders as she took the stairs two at a time, passed Ianto and headed up to the workstations. Ianto and Owen exchanged a look before the Welshman decided to follow her.

Niamh was standing by the door, hands clasped behind her back, rocking on her heels impatiently. As the door rolled away, Ianto saw a woman with two little boys, one holding her hand and the other balanced on her hip. In a moment, Niamh was relieving her of the smaller boy and heading back over to the sofa by Tosh's desk.

"Thanks, pet." Gwen smiled as she took a seat next to Niamh and held the second little boy still as he squirmed out of his coat. Niamh just smiled and bounced the toddler on her lap gently, grinning as he chuckled happily, clapping his podgy hands together.

"Hi, Gwen. How're the boys today?" Gwen looked at him with a sarcastic expression.

"I should've learnt from you two having kids this age that it's not just happy families. Luckily, Evan adores Niamh and Gethan's rather taken with Griffin. I'll have to thank him again for putting up with him." She gestured to Tosh's desk where the older of her two sons was tugging on Griffin's sleeve. The good natured young man picked the little boy up and sat him on his lap, handing him a simple puzzle cube for him to work on whilst Griffin himself carried on typing. The work soon smoothed out and continued as if there'd been no interruption.

"He doesn't mind it. Despite the cool, too-smart for school exterior, he's as soft as Jack." Ianto laughed at the snort of disapproval from his son before looking up to find the captain himself walking across the hub, hands in pockets again.

"Hey, Gwen! How're the sprogs? It looks like Torchwood Three's back to being daycare. All we need is Tosh and Owen to have a few and the family's complete!" He grinned, amusement glittering in his eyes at the look on Gwen's face and the look of acute embarrassment on Tosh's .

"I'm sorry about this, Rhys got kept behind, so he couldn't fetch them from school and nursery." Jack waved a hand, dismissing the apology. It wasn't exactly like Griffin and Niamh hadn't visited the hub. In fact, they'd practically been brought up there.

"How is Rhys anyway? Did he get that promotion he was going for?" Jack sat down, taking the newly vacated seat of his daughter, watching as she carried Evan over to Griffin and Gethan.

"Oh! Yes, that's one of the reasons he had to stay late, to work out the scheduling. He's going in a little earlier, but he'll have more time in the afternoon to spend with the boys." She smiled happily, obviously relieved to have her sons taken off her hands for a few minutes. "I don't think he realises how much work a two year old and a five year old can be though. There's plenty of time for that though!"

Jack chuckled and Gwen joined him as Ianto smiled. He knew all too well the stresses of bringing up two small children. Luckily, Griffin had always been a quiet and good natured child, and Niamh had taken her brother's word as law. Their son had been an extremely useful tool in the upbringing of their daughter. The look of complete devotion on the girl's face as she watched and chatted with her brother was a testament to that.

The change in their offspring wasn't the only thing to occur to Ianto over the past few years. For some reason, Jack seemed to have aged as well. Whether it was due to carrying two babies, the cocktail of fertility inhibitors Owen and Jack himself had worked out sixteen years previously or just the man's natural reaction to the passing years, Ianto wasn't sure. What he did know was that while he still looked young for his rough age, he was alot happier being able to grow old with his family. That much was obvious in him.

The not-so-young man was snapped out of his thoughts as he felt familiar arms around his middle again, bringing a smile to his face. Jack rested his chin on Ianto's shoulder and watched the scene before them as well. The fact that the two young people in front of them had come from two amazing mistakes many years before was nothing in comparison to the adults they'd become. Griffin was sharp, caring and very funny whilst Niamh was playful, passionate and intensely stubborn. It wasn't hard to imagine either of them having full and happy lives.

"Griffin?" It was Jack's turn to be snapped out of his reverie as Ianto called to the young man.

"Yes, Tad?" He watched as, with a flick of his hair, the boy turned in his seat, one arm protectively around the little boy sitting on his lap.

"You need a hair cut." Jack knew from experience that Ianto's face was deadpanned and serious as the two pairs of blue eyes met.

"So do you," Griffin didn't miss a beat, whipping his retort right back at Ianto, "and you need to shave."

Everyone was surprised at the low chuckle that echoed from Jack's chest, even Ianto. He swivelled in his arms and looked at him inquisitively. Jack just smirked at him and ran his nose lightly along Ianto's rough jaw line before pulling him into another kiss.

"_You_ do NOT need to see this." Griffin muttered, twisting back around and wrapping his arm around Niamh's head, hand over her eyes and pulling her close to his chest. Both of the men across the room smiled and shared another, deep kiss before Jack pulled himself away a little.

"He's right you know, maybe you do need to shave." Jack looked at Ianto suggestively, making Ianto snort in reply and grin, kissing him hard once more before pulling himself free and heading across the hub to the archives, no doubt to finish a pile of paperwork that Jack had once again refused to do himself. After a couple of minutes, Jack headed over to Tosh's workstation and shoved Griffin's head to the side playfully, messing up his hair a little.

"You really do need a haircut though." There was a growl of disapproval as some of Griffin's more Jack-like traits emerged, but the captain ignored him and strode towards the archive door, hands in pockets and a smug grin on his face. Some things never did change, and his trip to the archives wasn't going to break the trend.


End file.
